Senior apartment building’s 4-story height next to homes not ‘going to fly,’ Arlington Heights mayor says

Though expressing general support for the concept, some Arlington Heights village board members said a proposed four-story, 60-unit affordable senior housing development is too tall and too close to neighboring single-family homes.

Nonprofit developer Preservation of Affordable Housing and Church of the Incarnation United Methodist have proposed the senior apartment building of mostly one-bedroom units for a 1.5-acre portion of the church’s 4.6-acre property at 330 W. Golf Road. They connected a year ago through Sanctuary AP3, a Virginia-based nonprofit that promotes the creation of affordable housing on land owned by faith-based organizations.

“We’ve got a lot of land that all we do is mow it, and we’d like to find a better use for that property,” said Frank Lee, a longtime church member and one-time chairman of Arlington Heights’ housing commission. “I know the challenges that stand in the way of bringing opportunity for affordable housing to our community, but I think this is a great way to do it.”

Lee and other members of church leadership — a congregation that numbers between 30 and 50 members on any given Sunday — came to the village boardroom Monday night to gather informal feedback from the elected panel. The board ultimately will decide whether to grant the project zoning entitlements, as well as a requested $750,000 loan from the village’s $1.3 million affordable housing trust fund.

The village board’s early review? The church and developer have more work to do.

Mayor Jim Tinaglia said the project looks good on face value, but “there’s no way four stories is going to fly on this site.” Same goes for the four-story portion of the building’s 23-foot setback from the nearest single-family homes to the west on Highland Avenue, Tinaglia declared.

“I am 100% confident that you as a group of hopeful developers are going to have your hands full convincing that this is appropriate,” Tinaglia said. “My best advice to you is to do all that you can to soften that blow every step of the way. And the first step is going to be height. … That’s where you’re going to get your biggest pushback, guaranteed. And this room will be full of people who are not happy about that.”

Tinaglia and some trustees drew parallels to the controversy over another affordable housing project, Grace Terrace, which finally earned approval by the board in 2025 after three years and more than a dozen public meetings.

The initial proposal was pared down from three stories to two, and the entrance and parking lot was flipped from the back — across from homes — to the front. Construction of the 25 apartments for people with disabilities and veterans is now underway at 1519 S. Arlington Heights Road.

“There’s been projects come through here that took some time to get through,” Tinaglia said. “Changes were made. Demands were made. Conversations were had. And better projects were produced as a result.”

Joel Hartland, another church member, said the last time he was in the village boardroom was for the Grace Terrace debate, “so I just want to assure you that that’s been part of the DNA to this project’s design.”

The church property is bordered on three sides by 19 houses, but that’s why the site plan envisions the building fronting Golf Road, Hartland said.

Julie DeGraaf, vice president for community redevelopment at Preservation of Affordable Housing, said a lower building height of perhaps two stories would mean encroachment into green space and walking paths proposed between the building and homes to the north.

The number of apartments was already “right sized” after earlier concerns about density from village staff, DeGraaf said. Anything below the “sweet spot” of 50 to 60 units would yield operating inefficiencies, she said.

DeGraaf said the project team hasn’t yet spoken to neighbors, but that’s one of the next steps.

Trustees Wendy Dunnington and Robin LaBedz suggested the developer flip the four-story portion of the building to be closer to the church, while a three-story portion would be closer to houses.

Still, they and most other trustees encouraged the developer to keep moving forward in the village’s approvals process, saying it would help address a growing need.

“This is a viable project,” said Trustee Bill Manganaro. “This is a project that could be done within a reasonable period of time. It would provide a significant amount of affordable housing to seniors.”

The $25 million project would be financed with low income housing tax credits from the Illinois Housing Development Authority, a private mortgage and other public funds through federal, state and county sources. The developer plans to submit a preliminary application to the state in September.

If state funding is awarded next year, the schedule calls for construction to begin in the summer of 2028 and first move-ins to take place by the winter of 2029.

cplacek@dailyherald.com